A PRIVATE investigator claims two young Midland tourists were gunned down in a Florida ghetto after being lured there by a mystery woman.

A PRIVATE investigator claims two young Midland tourists were gunned down in a Florida ghetto after being lured there by a mystery woman.

Town planner James Kouzaris, 25 and tennis coach James Cooper, 24, were shot dead in cold blood on April 16 after a night out in Sarasota.

Suspected gang member Shawn Tyson, 16, was later charged with their murders and could face the death penalty if found guilty.

Cops are still investigating how the Warwickshire friends ended up in the rundown Newtown area of the city which is plagued by crime.

But US private eye Bill Warner claims the pair were lured to an ambush by a woman who could be linked to notorious street gang Second Line – which Tyson is suspected of belonging to.

Mr Warner said: “In my opinion this was a set-up. They were enticed there and the motive was robbery.

‘‘Sarasota detectives are working on the theory that they could have accepted a lift from a stranger, most likely a woman.

“The kid the police have charged is just a goon, a high school dropout. He is not the brains of this operation.

“The area where these guys died is off the beaten track. You don’t just wander in there. I’m sure they were driven there.

‘‘They had been out drinking in the bars of downtown Sarasota chatting up girls at Smokin Joe’s bar and the Gator Club on Main Street.

‘‘They had no car, there is no public transport at that time of night and the police have found no record of the boys taking a taxi, which is always parked outside the Gator Club.

“Someone could have called ahead and people were waiting for them. It was late at night and they would not have known what this area was like.

‘‘They probably got shot because they ran or resisted.’’

US cops have traced two women seen talking to the university pals at Smokin’ Joe’s bar before the shootings, although detectives have stressed they are NOT suspects.

But cops are investigating a crucial time gap between the men leaving the venue and arriving in the Newtown area.

A US police source suggested: “It is entirely plausible that they were taken to this location, where they were confronted by at least two individuals.’’

Eyewitnesses have also backed up the theory that the Midlanders may have been lured into a ‘honeytrap’.

Local Sonja Seymour, 31, said: “I heard that when they arrived here there were already some people waiting for them. They were wearing masks (trademark of the Second Line gang).

“The men ran away and they were shot. I saw one of them lying in the street on his back with his arms outstretched. The other was across the road and lying on his back.”

Tyson, who goes by the street name Young Savage, is believed to be connected with Second Line, whose members have terrorised the city for the last few years.

Second Line crew have been suspects, charged or convicted in at least eight murders in Newtown and linked to four more.

The gang is now so feared that many residents have stopped wearing jewellery in public for fear of being robbed.

Meanwhile, authorities in Sarasota have issued a public apology to the families of the Midlanders after judicial mistakes led to Tyson being released onto the streets just hours before the murders.

The teenager was arrested on April 7 on a charge of aggravated assault with a firearm after firing his gun at the car of a gang rival.

At a pre-trial hearing on April 15, prosecutors argued that Tyson was a ‘danger to the community’ and should not be released on bail.

But a catalogue of errors led to him being freed, including prosecutors losing a Judge’s order that Tyson should be kept in custody.

The Mayor of Sarasota, Kelly Kirschener, said: “Obviously there was a significant failure.

“The state prosecutor’s office has already said that they will ensure nothing like that will ever happen again.

“Shawn Tyson has been charged over a firearm incident on 7 April that’s no consolation for the families and we accept that, but there was certainly a breakdown there as well.”

Sarasota police chief Michael Holloway also expressed his regret about the April 16 shooting.

He said: “I know that they (Mr Kouzaris’ and Mr Cooper’s families) loved their children just as much as I love mine, so I can just say that we are very, very sorry.

“We as a police department have worked very hard to apprehend the killer.

“We believe we have the killer. We owe that to the parents.”

Sarasota and State Attorney Office supervisor, Erica Arend, painted a picture of a department where incompetence and negligence made it easier for errors like those in Tyson’s case to happen.

She discovered attorneys covering for each other in important cases; a reliance on low-level employees to handle key tasks; and supervisors not being brought in to advise on potentially dangerous cases.

She said: “I found some major changes need to be made, I think we gave that division too much autonomy. There’s going to be a lot more oversight.”

Mr Cooper had represented Warwickshire at tennis and once played Andy Murray in a junior tournament.

He met Mr Kouzaris while both were at Sheffield University and they were holidaying with Mr Cooper’s parents on the island city of Longboat Key before the tragedy.

Mr Cooper’s parents issued a tribute to their son after his death which said: “He was gentle, kind, compassionate, clever and an athlete; but beyond all his achievements he was full of love.

“As his parents, our lives have been shattered but through us and his friends and family he will live on.”

The bodies of the Britons are now believed to be back in the UK after their release by a coroner.